Costa Mesa Speedway
Orange County Fairgrounds - Costa Mesa, CA

2000 Costa Mesa
Costa Mesa Speedway
August 12, 2000
From Ryan Evans

Chris Manchester Wins The Main and Gary Hicks Takes The Handicap Event!

Gary Hicks returned to his early-season form by winning a Handicap Main at Costa Mesa that was full of controversy.

The race was full of back yardage riders with four on the 40 and four on the 50. Ryan Fisher jumped the first start and was sent back 20 yards to the 60 yard line. On the second attempt, Randy DiFrancesco took the lead as the field entered turn one. Hicks was able to get into second place on the first lap and went after the leader. Hicks was relentless with his pressure on DiFrancesco and finally passed him on the fourth lap. Regular flagman Jerry King was absent and his replacement displayed the checkered flag at the end of the sixth lap obviously forgetting that the Handicap Main is eight laps.

Gary Hicks was the tentative winner and the riders assumed the race was over and began exiting the track with the exception of DiFrancesco who argued vehemently with the referee that the race had ended two laps early. The referee agreed and the field was called to the track for a staggered restart with two laps remaining. Hicks took his place at the tapes with the field behind him and as would be expected Hicks was an easy winner with DiFrancesco finishing second again and thereby gaining nothing for his arguing, Andy Northrup was third, and Dukie Ermolenko was fourth.

Chris Manchester made it two weeks in a row by taking the Scratch Main event. Manchester blasted into the lead at the start but there was some movement just prior to the tapes going up and Shawn McConnell and Bobby Schwartz were left behind because they were expecting a restart. Manchester was chased by Fisher all four laps but the sixteen year old couldn't gain any ground on the former National Champion. Manchester was an easy winner over Fisher with Hicks finishing third, McConnell fourth, and Schwartz fifth. After the race, Hicks took a minute to voice his displeasure to the referee about the movement at the tapes.

David Lynch got a great start and never looked back as he took an easy victory in the Support Main Event. Randy Skinner followed Lynch throughout the race and finished second, Gerry Duttweiler was third, and Sean Larned was fourth.

Northern California rider Jonathan Curry made a mockery of his obvious misplacement in Support B to score an easy win in his first visit to Costa Mesa. Curry was lined up on the 20 yard line but stormed through the field to take the lead at the end of lap one. Curry then ran away from everyone to take the victory. Howard Larson finished second, and Ed Martinez finished third.

Next week is Harley Night which will feature fans racing their street-legal Harleys around the world-famous track and will no doubt attract a large crowd.

RESULTS

Support B Consolation
239 - Philip Williams       10
178 - Eloy Medellin         20
135 - Kerry Connor          20
249 - John Stunkard         20
132 - David Moore           20  (fell)
125 - Johnny Lupo           20  (fell)

Support B Main
 31n - Jonathan Curry       20
168 - Howard Larson         10
269 - Ed Martinez           20
198 - Mike Boyle            20
293 - Rick Valdez           10  (fell, remounted)
107 - Monte McKeon          10

Support Main
131 - David Lynch
383 - Randy Skinner
200 - Gerry Duttweiler
226 - Sean Larned

Handicap Main
  3 - Gary Hicks            50
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco     40
166 - Andy Northrup         40
 15 - Dukie Ermolenko       50
 36 - Ryan Fisher           40  (penalty line)
 14 - Eddie Castro          40
  1 - Brad Oxley            50  
130 - Chris Manchester      50

Scratch Main
130 - Chris Manchester
 36 - Ryan Fisher
  3 - Gary Hicks
  6 - Shawn McConnell
 11 - Bobby Schwartz    (retired)